UC Berkeley students threaten to sue over Ann Coulter visit

Coulter's planned appearance at the University of California, Berkeley on April 27 has been canceled because of security concerns.

In canceling Coulter's speech on Wednesday, UC Berkeley cited violence that broke out at the campus in February, hours before right-wing media personality Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak there.

An unlikely person has come to the defense of conservative pundit Ann Coulter in her ongoing push to give a speech at the University of California at Berkeley: liberal television host and comedian Bill Maher.

The UC Police Department "received mounting intelligence that some of the same groups that previously engaged in local violent action also intended violence at the Coulter event", Berkeley chief campus counsel Christopher Pratt wrote in a letter to Harmeet Dhillon, the attorney representing Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation.

Coulter has vowed to speak at the university April 27 as originally scheduled, and the College Republicans have threatened Berkeley with a lawsuit. That's when the university penciled in her visit for May 2. She also pointed out that later date would coincide with a reading period before final exams, when there are no classes on campus and fewer students around. Join us in a conversation about world events, the newsgathering process or whatever aspect of the news universe you find interesting or important.

"It is a sad day indeed when the birthplace of the free speech movement, is morphing before our eyes into the cemetery of free speech on college campuses", Dhillon wrote to Patti.

Stay on topic - This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand. Coulter said she agreed with these "arbitrary and silly" demands.

"We will stand united against the "progressive" Left", he said.

Police arrested 20 people and said dozens were injured. "Given current active security threats, it is not possible to assure that the event could be held successfully", a letter from Vice Chancellor Scott Biddy to Berkeley College Republican read.

As the Washington Post notes, Maher himself was invited to speak on the Cal campus in 2014 for winter commencement, which led to a petition to disinvite him because he had been known to make "comments that are blatantly bigoted and racist" and "public statements on various religions and cultures [that] are offensive". "It's pretty clear. There is a First Amendment right of student groups to have equal access to university facilities".

In response, university officials said they were looking for additional, more secure campus venues beyond those where speakers usually appear. But apparently university officials learned a different lesson: It is too risky for the wrong people to exercise their First Amendment rights.

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